Our 3rd Day at Disneyland!!

We were all excited to go back to Disneyland and ride more rides. We decided before we got there that we would start out riding the rides that we like the most and if we had time we would go and ride other ones. Well there were still lots of people but as the evening went on most of those people left and it made it much more fun for us. We didn't have to wait as long in the lines to ride the rides. We also were able to see the light parade and the fireworks when we were there on our last night.

We are on one of my most favorite rides at Disneyland. Its the Runaway Train!! I decided its more fun to ride this ride when its dark then during the day. Anyway we went on this ride a few times, the boys even loved it too!!

We were able to see the light parade. It was so neat to see. It was not what I expected it was so much better.

this is as close as we got to Mickey and Minnie.

(my boys really aren't into them so they didn't want to wait in line to see them when we went into Tunetown!) but it was fun to see them in the parade!

Its a Small World was so pretty all lit up! I just loved having the boys picture with all the pretty lights in the background!

This tree is HUGE!! This is one of the first things that you see as you walk into Disneyland!! Its so pretty and I had to have a family picture next to it. . . . .

Just one of many family pictures that I had to have!

The boys thought that they were cool that they got to drive these cars. Bry barley made the height requirements to be able to drive with an adult! So he was pretty proud of himself. Kode liked the ride so much he wished we had seen it on the first day to Disneyland!

Space Mountain!

this picture is of us while we were on the space mountain ride!

(Shawn wanted to take the boys on space mountain as their first ride in Disney. I said NO! Don't scare them first thing, then they will not want to go on another ride the rest of the time. This was not Kode's favorite ride but Bry said he liked it)

All in all we had a great day at Disneyland. It was hard to leave even though it was midnight (that's when Disney closes) but we were all tuckered out and ready for bed.

Universal Studios!!

One of the days that we were in California we decided to drive to Universal Studios. (Its been a very long time since I have been there and the last time I was there it was not real cool) It has changed a lot since last time. I was very impressed. There were so many cool shows that you could go to, and the tram ride was really neat (more about that at later on in this post) plus there were so many characters walking around (some we got pictures with) and a few more photo opps. Anyway, we had a great time at Universal Studios!

Just before we entered Universal!!

There at Universal they have several shows going on throughout the day and one of the many shows that we saw was The Blues Brothers. Well as part of their show they call kids from out of the audience and have them come up on stage and dance with them. So both of the boys were called to go up on stage and dance. At first Kode did not want to go but once he and Bry got up there along with other children he relaxed and began to dance. It was pretty neat to see them up there on stage!

This picture is of the boys (well actually all of us) on the tram to go and see where they film most of the movies there at Universal Studios. That was a really cool experience. Part of the ride is in 3D now so you had to wear the silly glasses. I think that the boys really enjoyed this tour!

Throughout the whole park they had lots of fun people to take photo's with. My mom and I decided it would be fun to have a picture standing next to Marlyn Monroe and then Shawn, I and Bry wanted a picture with the Frankenstein.

The boys thought that these mopeds were pretty cool. So I had to have a picture of them.

After spending the day at Universal Studios we walked the mini mall area that they have outside of Universal then we ate dinner at a really fancy but very neat restaurant. (they have mechanical bulls there that you could ride, and small fire pits that you could roast marshmallows at) Everyone had a little something different to eat and the food was great. Shawn ordered a margarita (they called it the bull rider) to drink and when it came out it was in a craft container. (he said he has never drank out of a craft container before) Then when we were all done eating dinner they brought out a HUGE thing of cotton candy. The boys loved that! (sorry no pictures of Kode. He was throwing a fit about going to this restaurant and he didn't want any pictures taken)

All in all we had a great day at Universal Studios!! I would defiantly go back there again!!

~San Clemente Beach~

One of the days while we were in California we decided that we were going to take a break from theme parks for the day so we went for a drive down the coast. What a beautiful drive. I really enjoyed going through all the little towns and seeing all the beautiful homes and the large boats. After a little while in the car the boys were getting a little restless so we decided to take a break at San Clemente Beach.Just after we parked our car I saw this little Volkswagen Thing in the parking lot. I just had to have a picture of it. I think it would be something fun to drive around in if I lived there. Anyway here are more pictures of our day. . . .

Kode and I taking a quick picture! Just before we walked the Beach we stopped at a really good restaurant there on the beach to have some lunch (some clam chowder soup. and man it was the best clam chowder soup I have ever had)

This is what the water looked like. You could see it for miles. It was so BEAUTIFUL!!

Shawn showed the boys these muscles that were attached to this pole. The boys were interested in how they got there and how they were still hanging on there!

Just the two of us!

Grams and Bry watching the water as it came up the beach

When we first got to the beach Bry didn't want to get wet nor did he want to take off his shoes. He said he just wanted to walk around just for a few! Ha Ha! It was only about 5 minutes into walking the beach when he asked if he could take off his shoes and play in the water. This picture was taken just after he took off his shoes and felt the sand on his feet for the first time! It was so fun watching him play in the water and on the beach!

Kode just wanted to play on the beach. He had no interest in playing out in the water. He said he really wanted to build a sand castle but this kind of sand you could not build anything. So he just dug in the sand and made little puddles!

Bry taking a break from wading in the ocean and came to see what Kode was doing. He figured that Kode needed some help!

just another picture of them playing!

As Shawn and Roger were walking the beach Roger found this crab. They hooted for us to come over to take a look at it. This was the first time that the boys had ever seen a real crab, so it was pretty cool that they talked Kode into picking it up and of course I had to have a picture! Awesome braveness Kode!

Grams and Bry wading in the ocean. Bry just made me laugh cause he said he just was not going to get wet and he was doing everything to try to prevent it like holding his rolled up pants as high as he could but no matter what he did he still got pretty wet. It was fine cause he had lots of fun!

Just walking the beach

We had a great time roaming the beach. It was so nice cause there was hardly any people there. It was a little chilly out but still a nice day to enjoy ourselves at the beach. It makes me want to live a little closer to a beach so we could visit more often!

California Adventures!!

California Adventures was a very fun place. There is not a lot of rides there yet but the stuff that is there is lots of fun, and the lines were perfect. Not to long not to short! this picture of Bry was taken at Grizzly Rapids by their beautiful waterfall! (I couldn't get Kode to take a picture with Bry so all you get to see is Bry)

and then here is Shawn and I

and of course I had to get a picture of all 4 of us

It was a pretty chilly day so the boys and I didn't want to go on this ride and get all wet and be cold for the rest of the day. So we opted to stay and watch for them on the ride!

and here they are. Actually they really didn't get very wet!

Ooh my goodness!!

While we were in California Adventures Fenious and Ferb were there and Bry just loved watching them. He still talks about seeing them today!! Actually they were really cute and I think that we all enjoyed watching them!

I took this picture just before we went and saw the 4D Movie of "Its a bugs life" That movie was the cutest 4D movie I have ever seen.

This picture was from when the boys (Shawn, Bry, Kode, and Roger) went on the Tower of Terror. They said that they really liked that ride! (I don't like those kind of rides that drop you from way up high so I let them go and I stayed behind!)

While we were in California Adventures the boys and my mom wanted to ride the Screamin ride. After seeing how the ride starts I did not want to ride it so I just hung out with Roger and took some photo's. this is at the entrance of the Screamin ride. It just looked so cool at night so I had to take a picture!

here they are just lining up to take off

and this is what their faces looked like while they were on the ride! Crazy!! I was so surprised that Kode rode the ride. He didn't used to be a daredevil but he sure had a great time on this ride. They all loved going on the ride and said if we went back to California Adventure they would ride it again!

This is just a picture of California Adventure at night. It is so pretty with all of the lights!!

So there is a story behind this!! We rented a house in Huntington Beach (only about 20 minutes away from Disneyland) and each morning before we left the house Shawn would make all of us breakfast. Well the first morning we got up he made hash browns and eggs. Well we all wanted some ketchup or hot sauce to put on our hash browns but did not have any. So while we were in California Adventures Shawn saw a stand that had these small packets of ketchup so he grabbed a handful of them and told me to hang on to them. I didn't have much room in my jacket pockets so I stashed them in my fanny pack! (well the story gets better) So later on that day we decided to go back on over to Disneyland. Well each time you cross from one park to another they ask that you open your purse/bags so that they can check for weapons or glass or whatever. Anyway, I didn't think much of it and opened up my fanny pack and showed the lady the inside of it. The look on her face was priceless and when I realized that those packets of ketchup were still in my fanny pack my face went bright red. (now I am not the type of person to steal anything but we figured that we needed a few packets of ketchup at the house and for how much we spent on tickets to Disneyland we figured it would not be a problem if we took a few) Anyway, the lady looked at me with a very strange face and said "OK mam you may go on your way" Once I realized it I just wanted to crawl under the table and hide. I was so embarrassed. All of us had a good laugh on this one!!

Anyway, our visit to California Adventures was a great one! We defiantly would go back there again!